Topless Sunbathing: Opinions

Gold Member

One might think they'd have more liberal attitudes about such matters over here in Sweden, but a woman's right to appear topless at public pools has recently became an issue after two girls were asked to cover up. It's not so much an issue at public beaches. One sees plenty of topless female sunbathers there, but for some reason that escapes me, appearing topless at a pool is different than at a beach. :shrug

One can't really use, "protecting the delicate sensibilities of children and the elderly" as a reason because there are plenty of families with young (usually naked) children and grandmotherly types at both places, so I just don't see what the difference is.

Gold Member

They are not ... but at the same time they are considered to be rather explicitly sexually arousing. Why this is a bad thing ... I don't know, fuck the US court system.

I think part of it is what people expect when they go to a public nude beach vs. a pool.

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And a hundred years ago the sight of woman's ankle or (heaven forbid) a knee, was sexually arousing. A woman could be arrested for indecent exposure for displaying her kneecaps. Guess, times have changed...but not enough apparently.

Now that I think about it,when I lived in Sweden (late80s--early 90s), my GF would always be topless at the beach or the outdoor pools.........but shed always have her bikini top on at the indoor pools we went to. For the life of me I dont know why I never noticed that before......(duh)

Maybe cuz indoors she wasnt gonna get any sun? Who knows .....not me.............

Gold Member

Maybe cuz indoors she wasnt gonna get any sun? Who knows .....not me.............

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I think you've got your explanation right there Sounds like she was avoiding tan lines.

Yeah, we do make a ridiculously big fuss over boobies. In cultures where toplessness is de rigueur, the female breast doesn't have any sexual connotations...it's just another body part. The problem is that in our society, breasts are considered to be sexually on a par with genitalia. So if you allow women to go topless, then we have to allow women, and men, to go bottomless...you'd have to extend that same impunity to the rest of the human body. I don't know if we're quite ready for that :ugh

Gold Member

And a hundred years ago the sight of woman's ankle or (heaven forbid) a knee, was sexually arousing. A woman could be arrested for indecent exposure for displaying her kneecaps. Guess, times have changed...but not enough apparently.

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And unfortunately, in some backward societies, this is still the case....
I read recently that in Iran for instance ,they have reinstated the "Virtue Police":ugh

Gold Member

I'm a nudist at heart. I don't think bare boobies should be outlawed, but lots of people do, and laws won't be changed until a large majority of the population insists on it. I wouldn't expect it here in the states in my lifetime.

Gold Member

I wish it weren't such a big deal. If nudity could ever be seen as something natural, and not something sexual, it would really make a difference. But, I don't understand why being sexual is bad either....I mean, if you arouse someone, who cares? It's normal. It sucks that society hasn't evolved more.

I thought it was very refreshing when my wife and I went to the topless "European" style pool at our hotel on our honeymoon in Las Vegas.

We initially went to try and avoid the big crowds at the main pool, and while not all the girls did go topless, a lot of them did, and the more that would, the more others were willing. My wife was a little reluctant at first, but on the second day she did decide to start going topless, which was actually a big turn on for me.

I think there will pretty much always be at least some sort of sexual connotation to seeing a girl topless like that, but I think you just have to accept it.

My wife is very pretty with an amazing body, so when she did it, she got a lot of attention and looks from guys, especially one group of young guys who were just there for a couple days, but she, as most girls probably would, enjoyed being the center of attention like that, and I didn't mind it in the slightest.

Gold Member

Yeah, but most of the Swedes I know love to sunbathe! And they're not naturally pale. It's not considered "unhealthy" like it is in the US, probably because we get so little opportunities for it. Right now this is the darkest time of the year, and by the time we reach winter solstice the sun will rise at 9:30am and set by 3:30pm.

During the summertime, the Swedes spend a lot of time out there in the healthy sun. My Swede's mom turns as brown as a nut.

Gold Member

Your fortunate that the ozone layer is not as badly damaged as it is in the Southern hemisphere...in Australia....your considered foolish if you spend more than 20 mins or so out in the sun without skin protection...for fair skinned people...even less...
Unfortunately, because of our beach lifestyle, we have the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world....:nerv

Gold Member

In 1992 New York's highest state court ruled that women could be topfree in public. Since 1992 women in the highly populous State of New York have enjoyed the right to bare their chests whenever men could do so. As one New York Justice wrote in his concurring opinion, "One of the most important purposes to be served by the equal protection clause is to ensure that 'public sensibilities' grounded in prejudice and unexamined sterotypes do not become enshrined as part of the official policy of government." (source: legalfreedom. com)

Well, in Brattleboro, the capital city of the state of Vermont, it's legal to go totally nude anywhere, although this past summer there was a short-lived temporary ban that was passed.

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Vermont town can bare it no longer, mulls nudity ban

By John Curran, Associated Press | July 15, 2007

BRATTLEBORO -- Topless women on parade? That was fine. Teenagers loitering in the buff in a downtown parking lot? No problem. Naked sunbathers at swimming holes? It was only au naturel.

But a senior citizen walking through the center of town on a Friday night wearing only a fanny pack?

That's where Brattleboro draws a fig leaf.

After years of winking at public nudity, the town famous for its strip-and-let-strip attitude is now considering whether to ban it, saying the nudity has begun drawing people to the town and is offending locals.

The Selectboard plans Tuesday to introduce an emergency ordinance to ban nudity in certain parts of town.

"Just because you can doesn't mean you should," said Dick DeGray, a member of the Selectboard. "You can't go into a store and buy an adult magazine until you're 18, and yet you can walk down the street in Vermont and see naked people. There's something wrong with that picture."

On July 6, a 68-year-old man showed up naked downtown, strolling the streets during Gallery Walk, a monthly social event in which people stop in art galleries and shops.

The man told residents he was from Arizona and had decided to vacation in Brattleboro after reading about its public nudity freedom on the Internet.

Vermont has no state laws against public nudity, although a handful of cities and towns have enacted anti nudity ordinances.

Brattleboro flirted with the idea last summer when a group of teenagers took to hanging around a downtown parking lot in the nude, which led to national publicity and triggered telephone calls from curious people in faraway places.

"They'll call up and say, 'So, I hear you've got a lot of naked people running around town,' " said Jerry Goldberg, executive director of the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce. "It's so far from the truth, it's kind of laughable," said Goldberg.

Some would-be tourists call to say they are putting off their visit because they're worried about public nudity, he said. Town officials worry, too: The idea of naked people spoiling Gallery Walk night by scaring families with children away is chilling.

"Every time you guys do one of your articles, people come from all over," said police Captain Steven Rowell.

Public nudity is far from an everyday occurrence, but many residents want it regulated.

"It's time they did something about it," said Sherwood Smith, manager of Baskets Bookstore, which is located in the Harmony parking lot, where naked teens gathered last summer.

"I don't care how they robe or disrobe at swimming holes, but in a downtown area like this, it's wrong."

Not everyone agrees.

"I don't like the idea of them taking the rights to something natural away," said Rhiannon Curtis, 19, of Brattleboro.

"I like to swim naked, and that would be affected if they do this. Vermont doesn't need to conform to the rest of society's uptight rules."

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. - Vermont’s clothing-optional capital is stripping off its temporary ban on public nudity.

A month after passing the temporary ban, the Brattleboro Selectboard voted 3-2 on Tuesday to reject a proposed ordinance that would have made it permanent. When the emergency temporary ordinance expires next month, public nudity will be legal.

It’s all about tolerance, one board member said.

“We in this country are going down a slippery slope these days,” said Dora Bouboulis, noting a national newspaper recently published an article about the emergency ordinance under the headline “Tolerant town gets intolerant.”

She said it wasn’t up to the town to restrict anyone’s right to dress or undress.

Before the vote, residents weighed in on both sides of the debate.

Michael Gauthier gave the Selectboard a petition with signatures of 967 people who support a nudity ban.

“What is the point, other than shock and awe, that the nudists are trying to make?” he asked.